nep-ppm New Economics Papers
on Project, Program and Portfolio Management
Issue of 2014‒05‒24
seven papers chosen by
Arvi Kuura
Parnu College - Tartu University

  1. Does the heterogeneity of project implementers affect the program participation of beneficiaries? : Evidence from rural Cambodia By Ayako Wakano; Hiroyuki Yamada; Daichi Shimamoto
  2. The Impact of Investment Treaties on Governance of Private Investment in Infrastructure By Lise Johnson
  3. Contribution of the Conservation Estate to New Zealanders’ Prosperity and Wellbeing: Three Case Studies By Espiner, Stephen; Stewart, Emma; Dalziel, Paul; Saunders, Caroline
  4. Impact of land administration programs on agricultural productivity and rural development: existing evidence, challenges and new approaches By Jérémie Gignoux; Karen Macours; Liam Wren-Lewis
  5. Public-Private Collaboration on Productive Development Policies in Colombia By Marcela Eslava; Marcela Meléndez Arjona; Guillermo Perry
  6. Productive Development Policies and Innovation Spillovers through Labor Force Mobility: The Case of the Brazilian Innovation Support System By Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Ingtec; USP Research Group
  7. Innovative business models for high-tech entrepreneurial ventures: the organizational design challenges By Colombo, Massimo G.; Mohammadi, Ali; Lamastra, Cristina Rossi

  1. By: Ayako Wakano (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, JAPAN); Hiroyuki Yamada (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, JAPAN); Daichi Shimamoto (School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, JAPAN)
    Abstract: Using the dataset collected for assessment of a post-harvest technology project in rural Cambodia, we focused on the heterogeneous social preferences of project implementers, often overlooked in the literature of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT). Our study focuses on the gimplementer effecth on program participation for the treated farmers. We show the possibility that heterogeneous program participation of ordinary farmers across the treated villages could be induced due to heterogeneity in the characteristics of project staff. In particular, we show the altruism of project staff, measured by the dictator game, consistently increases participation and the number of participations in the training sessions of beneficiaries. This type of heterogeneity in project staffsf preferences across treatment sites might yield noises in mean effects estimated using RCT methods conducted at a certain cluster level, which undermines the external validity of the estimated results. While RCT methods are very powerful tools for many program and policy evaluations, we cannot emphasize too much the importance of the way how an actual project is implemented.
    Keywords: social preference, program evaluation, heterogeneity in treatment effects
    JEL: O22 C93 D03
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:1421&r=ppm
  2. By: Lise Johnson
    Abstract: Governments are increasingly turning to the private sector to provide the capital, resources and/or know-how necessary for development and operation of infrastructure. In some cases, the involvement by the private sector will trigger coverage by an international investment treaty that overlies, and can override, the domestic law and contract that would otherwise be applicable to the project. This paper discusses the circumstances affecting when an investment treaty will apply and also highlights some of the ways that investment treaties can impact governance of infrastructure development and operation. While focusing on the relationship between investment treaties and investments in infrastructure, this paper is also relevant for the connections between investment treaties and other activities involving investor-state contracts (or quasi-contractual relationships) such as investments in the extractive industries.
    Date: 2014–03–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0378&r=ppm
  3. By: Espiner, Stephen; Stewart, Emma; Dalziel, Paul; Saunders, Caroline
    Abstract: New Zealand’s total land area is approximately 26.8 million hectares, of which 8.5 million hectares are administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). DOC recognises that it needs to partner with others to achieve its outcome statement. The purpose of this paper is to present three case studies where DOC is partnering with community groups so that the local community can gain environmental, social and economic benefits in line with the Department’s outcome statement. The authors had previous knowledge of the three case studies and received a small amount of funding from DOC to allow some follow-up interviews with key stakeholders in each of the case studies. The paper is presented in four main parts. Part 1 describes the research questions asked in the stakeholder interviews and explains their purpose. Parts 2, 3 and 4 present the three case studies: The Oparara Valley Project Trust; The Otago Central Rail Trail; and the Kiwi Ranger programme. The paper finishes with a summary of the major common themes revealed through these case studies.
    Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy,
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare14:165817&r=ppm
  4. By: Jérémie Gignoux (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Karen Macours (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Liam Wren-Lewis (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris)
    Abstract: Investment in land administration projects is often considered key for agricultural productivity and rural development in developing countries. But the evidence on such interventions is remarkably mixed. This paper reviews the literature and discusses a number of challenges related to the analysis of the impacts of land administration programs, focusing on developing countries where the starting position is one of land administration systems based on the Napoleonic code, with existing individual rights that may be imperfect and insecure. We examine a set of conceptual and methodological challenges including : 1) a conceptual challenge related to the need to unbundle property rights and to establish the plausible causal chain for land administration interventions; 2) the existence of other binding constraints on productivity, implying the need to consider heterogeneities in policy impacts and the complementarity between property rights and other productive interventions; 3) the need to account for spillovers of land interventions on non-targeted households; and 4) methodological challenges related to the causal identification of the impacts of such interventions.
    Keywords: Land administration programs ; Property rights ; Agricultural productivity ; Rural development ; Impact evaluation methods
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00992873&r=ppm
  5. By: Marcela Eslava; Marcela Meléndez Arjona; Guillermo Perry
    Abstract: This Working Paper analyzes the institutions that shape public-private collaboration for the design and implementation of productive development policies in Colombia. These policies are increasingly designed in the context of formal institutions and venues, with public-private collaboration being a pillar of that formal design. This paper focuses on two specific case studies: the Private Council for Competitiveness and its role in the National Competitiveness System and the Productive Transformation Program. Both suggest that public-private collaboration has contributed to the continuity of productive development policies across the country. Public-private collaboration has also played a significant part in achievements such as overcoming specific government failures and developing private organizational capabilities. Thus, a central message of this paper is that formal institutions have an important potential to advance adequate productive development policies.
    Keywords: Industrial Policy, Public Private Partnerships, Public-private collaboration, Productive development, Colombia
    Date: 2014–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:84135&r=ppm
  6. By: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Ingtec; USP Research Group
    Abstract: This paper focuses on two research problems. The first is to measure the direct impacts of innovation support measures in Brazil, and the second is to test the hypothesis of indirect effects of innovation policies on non-beneficiary firms through the labor mobility channel, whether resulting from direct support programs or indirect support via tax incentives. For this purpose, mobility is defined as the movement of workers in technical-scientific occupations, as identified by Araujo et al. (2009). It is found that, with the exception of a subvention program, direct support in the form of credit or cooperative projects fosters more innovative effort than tax incentives. Nonetheless, direct and tax- based incentives for innovation have different purposes, and sound innovation relies on both types of incentive.
    Keywords: Labor, Innovation, Industrial Policy, Productivity, Propensity-score matching, IDB-WP-459
    Date: 2013–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:83714&r=ppm
  7. By: Colombo, Massimo G. (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy); Mohammadi, Ali (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Lamastra, Cristina Rossi (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
    Abstract: Entrepreneurial ventures operating in high-tech industries are more and more adopting innovative business models, which are based on use of the market for ideas instead of the market for products or on the leveraging of communities of users and developers. A common characteristic of these innovative business models is their dependence on innovative technological knowledge and, consequently, on the ways in which intellectual property rights over this knowledge are designed (i.e., tight vs. loose appropriability regime). This chapter grounds on mainstream organizational design theories to speculate on how high-tech entrepreneurial ventures should organize internally to successfully implement these innovative business models. Specifically, it analyzes how firms’ structure, decision rights, and human resource management practices should be adapted to the need of generating, absorbing, and protecting innovative technological knowledge. Heeding a recent call in management literature, we will conduct our analysis considering organizational design variables both at the individual and firm level.
    Keywords: business model innovation; brganizational design; high-tech entrepreneurial ventures
    JEL: L17 L22 L26 O31
    Date: 2014–05–21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0366&r=ppm

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